Brayan Bello Is 1-5 as a Starter and Boston's Pitching Is Totally Imploding

You guys catching these games out east? From here in the Emerald City, watching what's happening with Boston right now is, frankly, painful. We've all had those rough outings, but a 10-2 blowout against the major-league-leading Atlanta Braves, where your pitching totally collapses? That's brutal. It all went south right after losing their reliever Garrett Whitlock to an injury. Just a rough week for them.

Boston's Bullpen Is Giving Up the Ghost

Seriously, Boston had a chance for a marquee series win, but then Whitlock hit the injured list with left knee inflammation. He hadn't pitched since Sunday after hyperextending his knee warming up in muddy conditions. So, their interim manager Chad Tracy could say, "If you said before the game that we'd get (Chris Sale) out of there after five and it's 2-2, you'd be feeling pretty good about that," but then he had to admit, "Then, obviously, it just got away from us." No kidding! Their starter Payton Tolle and reliever Tyron Guerrero got them through the fifth, but after that? Four different relievers all coughed up runs in that blowout defeat. No wonder their home record is a dismal 9-19, compared to their slightly better 14-13 on the road. Red Sox third baseman Caleb Durbin summed it up: "at the end of the day, it's wins and losses." Can't argue with that.

Meanwhile, Cleveland's Rookies Are Just Different

Now, let's pivot to a team actually looking good. The Cleveland Guardians are out here doing their thing, having looked down at the rest of the American League Central for most of the season. They haven't been swept in a series, which is pretty wild, and just avoided that fate again with a 3-2 win against the Washington Nationals. Who powered that go-ahead, three-run fifth inning? Rookies Travis Bazzana and Chase DeLauter. Both went 2-for-4, with Bazzana slamming two doubles and scoring a run. Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt isn't surprised, saying, "They're confident. They know they belong in the big leagues." Bazzana's hitting a team-best .302 and rocking a five-game hit streak. DeLauter, his teammate, raves that Bazzana "doesn't swing at balls, hits the strikes hard. What more can you ask for?" Pretty high praise for these young guns. So now these two teams are set to clash in Cleveland for a three-game series. The Guardians are sending Slade Cecconi to the mound Friday night. He's 3-5 with a 5.18 ERA, just took his first loss in five May outings, and get this: his last time against the Red Sox in September 2025, he gave up seven runs on 11 hits. Yikes. For Boston, they're rolling out Tyler Samaniego, a rookie left-hander making his first MLB start, as an opener for Brayan Bello. Bello is 2-5 with a 6.43 ERA in seven starts, but he's 1-0 with a 0.98 ERA in three appearances as a bulk reliever. What a difference! You know we'll be watching to see if Boston can somehow piece it together, or if these Guardians rookies keep proving they're the real deal.

This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.